Ledger-plate finger bar assembly



Aug. 30, 1955 as. MONAMARA, JR 2,

LEDGER-PLATE FINGER BAR ASSEMBLY Filed Oct. 28, 1953 v //Vl E/V7'0/? GORDON 6. M NAMARA JR.

ATTORNEY United States Patent LEDGER-PLATE FINGER BAR ASSEMBLY Gordon G. McNamara, Jr., Chicago, Ill., assignor to International Harvester Company, a corporation of New Jersey Application October 28, 1953, Serial No. 388,793

1 Claim. (Cl. 56309) This invention relates to mowers and more specifically to a novel means and arrangement for securing the ledger plate to the finger bar.

A general object of the invention is to provide a simple and effective securing means for removably attaching the ledger plates to the finger bar in a facile and economical manner.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a novel securement comprising registering openings in the ledger plate and the finger bar, said openings receiving a resilient pin C-shaped in cross-section, the pin being formed of spring steel or the like and radially expansible and contractible to tightly engage the periphery of the opening in the finger bar, the ledger plate having a countersunk opening providing a generally conical or tapered surface and the pin having a head end which is flared to provide a substantially complementary engagement with the flared surface and effecting a wedging action between the same and the opposed portion of the finger bar against the ledger plate entered therebetween.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a novel resilient connection between the ledger plate and the finger bar such as will absorb abnormal shocks which may be developed between the ledger plate and the cooperating knife blade so that the knife blade and the ledger plates will be protected from damage when wire or other hard substance is entered therebetween.

These and other objects of the invention will become more apparent from the specification and the drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a plan view of the ledger plate and finger bar assembly with the novel pin applied thereto;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially on the line 22 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a rear view of the assembly; and,

Figure 4 is an enlarged side elevational view of the novel pin.

Describing the invention in detail, the finger bar generally indicated 2 comprises a pointed nose 3 extending forwardly from the body 4, the body 4 providing a substantially horizontal generally fiat top seating surface 5 for the bottom side 6 of a ledger plate 7 which is tapered forwardly and has sharpened lateral edges 8 and 9 which project laterally beyond the lateral edges of the body 4.

The ledger plate 7 is a generally flat member and at its forward end is entered into a confining slot 10 defined between a guide 11 extending rearwardly from the nose 3 and vertically spaced in superposed relationship to the body portion 4 of the finger bar. The rear or base end of the trapezoidal shaped ledger plate 7 is semicircularly notched out at 12 to accommodate a complementary holding boss 13 which is formed integral with the body 4 along its rear edge and projecting upwardly therefrom. It will be observed that the body portion 4 is provided at opposite sides adjacent to its rear end with laterally projecting wings 15 and 16 adapted for abutment against the forward side of an associated support bar (not shown) and that the body portion 4 is also provided with a rear- 2,716,325 Patented Aug. 30, 1955 ice wardly projecting attaching lug 17 for securement to the support or mower bar as is conventional and will be readily understood by those skilled in the art.

The ledger plate and the body portion are provided With vertical registering, openings 18 and 19, respectively, substantially centrally thereof and through these openings is admitted a securing pin' generally designated 20, said securing pin being substantially C-shaped in crosssection and being formed of high carbon spring steel and being radially expansible and contractible and when admitted to the opening 19 is radially compressed in order to tightly engage its shank 21 with the periphery of the opening 19, the upper end of the shank portion 21 being provided with a flared head 22 providing an outer tapered or conical periphery 23 and in complementary engagement with a complementary. conical countersunk portion 24 of the opening 18 in the ledger plate. It will be noted that the pin 20 is hammered through the openings 18 and 19 until the head 22 wedged by radial compression with its surface 23 against the surface 24 and it will be readily appreciated that due to the wedging action developed between the surface 23 of the head and the surface 6 of the body portion, the ledger plate 7 is tightly wedged therebetween and held securely against the surface 6. It will also be observed that the ledger plate 7 is slightly spaced at its forward edge 25 from the forward edge 26 of the slot 10.

The edges 9 and 8 have upwardly beveled bottom edges or surfaces at 27 and 28 to provide sharp edges for shearing cooperation with an associated knife of the usual construction (not shown) and said beveled edges 27 and 28 bear or wedge along complementary surfaces, edges or wedge means 29 and 30 on shoulders 31 and 32 formed on the wing portions 15 and 16 respectively. These diagonal' edge faces have a tendency to cause the ledger plates to tend to rise when shearing material which has a high impact resistance such as a wire or the like attendant to rotation of the plate. This action is accommodated by the yielding nature of the head portion 22' of the pin. At the same time the yieldably resistant lateral swinging movement of the ledger plate, which is extremely small, thus resiliently absorbs the initial impact and immediately accommodates the knives to spread and enter this material therebetween without shearing. The fast reciprocation of the knife blade will eventually work this foreign matter out. The spacing at the forward end of the slot 10 also permits this lateral movement of the plate.

It will be understood that the instant connection not' only effects a tight securement of the ledger plate to the finger bar, but also provides a novel resistance of a resilient nature such as will protect the ledger plate and the knife from serious injury.

It will be appreciated that the embodiment of the invention chosen for the purposes of illustration and description herein is that preferred based upon requirements for achieving the objects of the invention and developing the utility thereof in the most desirable manner, due regard being had to existing factors of economy, simplicity of design and construction, production methods and the improvements sought to be effected. It will be noted therefore, that the particular structure and functional aspects emphasized herein are not intended to exclude but rather to suggest such other modifications and adaptations as fall within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A finger guard assembly having a body portion with a seating surface; a ledger plate seated thereagainst; and a resilient connection between said portion and said plate and comprising registering transverse openings therein, said opening in said ledger plate being countersunk and providing a Wedge surface tapered toward said portion, a resilient pin C-shaped in cross-section having a shank portion radially compressed within said openings and having a head portion C-shaped in cross-section and flexible radially and axially relative to said shank 'and in complementary radially and axially stressed engagement with said tapered surface.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1 Alexander Aug. 6, 1918 Borkhuis, Jr Apr. 22, 1930 Seidel Jan. 20, 1931 Person Feb. 24, 1931 Liebetrau Oct. 15, 1935 Novak Mar. 25, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Feb. 23, 1933 Italy May 25, 1939 Germany Mar. 19, 1943 

